"U-Um..Asuka"
"Yes?"
"I don't feel ready"
She gets back, and tilts her head, "What do you mean?"
"I don't know. I don't feel like it"
"Then what do you need?"
"I think…I think I want to read Hand-saw girl"
She leans in even closer this time. I can feel her breath on my face "Then lets do it"
"O-Okay"
She gets up and goes to grab the first book. Meanwhile I stayed in my place looking at the ground. I thought I was thinking, but no, my mind was blank
"Here. This is the first one!"
I take it from her and opened the first page
I can't actually understand what's written, but I can see the drawings and panels
I take a glance at Asuka, and she's just…looking at me reading
"U-Uh.. Is it fun for you like this?"
"Why won't it be? I am sharing something I enjoy"
"But you know I can't read.. Right?"
"So did I"
I continued looking at the pages, and the only thought in my head was how did the author was able to draw like this
And then it hit me
"Asuka"
"Yes?"
"Can you draw?"
"Of course"
"Can you teach me?"
"Now?"
"Yes!"
"..Okay"
She gets up and gets a few papers and a weird, long looking thing
"What's that?"
"A pencil"
"What is it used for?"
"To draw. Here, look at this"
She starts gliding the pencil on the paper, and in no time I saw it
"I-It's Hand-saw girl"
"Mhm.. Now try copying it"
I took the pencil from her, but the first obstacle was that I didn't even know how to hold it
"Asuka"
"Yes?"
"How should I hold it"
"Like this" She says as she shows me how she holds it
I did as she did, and started to draw
***
It has been hours as we were drawing
We drew whatever came to mind
We didn't eat lunch, we didn't watch any movies, we didn't do anything except drawing
"That was a long session"
"What's a session?"
"A period of time dedicated to do something"
"Oh"
"Wanna take a walk?"
"Now?"
"Yes"
"Okay"
We got up, and I instantly fell on the ground
"Ah!"
"Aha. Looks like your leg got numb"
"What's that? Also, why are you laughing? it hurts"
"It's when you put too much pressure on your body to the point it doesn't respond"
I slowly got up with the help of Asuka
And we went outside her wooden house
"Where are we going?"
"I don't know"
"Huh?"
"I just felt like doing something before starting anything"
"Asuka"
"Yes?"
"I kind of feel better"
"Really?"
"Yes"
"Do you want to start now?"
"I don't know. I don't feel sure about it"
"But you know it's the right thing. Right?"
"Yeah..I think"
We start to walk aimlessly as we are talking
"Asuka"
"Yes?"
"How did you keep up with Niv?"
"You mean when we were fighting?"
"Yes"
"The reason he's strong is because he learned how to fight"
"And?"
"I learned what he learned, so I was able to counter it"
"Is it easy"
"Some of it"
"Can you teach me?"
"I will do it later"
We are learning English, how to draw, and now how to fight. Isn't that a lot?
Asuka seems okay with it
Our feet pressed onto the sand. Our skin touched the sun's light, and we still walked
"Asuka"
"Yes?"
"Do you enjoy your life?"
"I…I don't know"
"O-Oh"
"..."
"…"
We walked in silence, as we turned back to the wooden house
Once we reached it, it seems Asuka noticed it
"Ah! We haven't eaten lunch!"
"Yeah"
She rushed inside and got some food. I did follow her inside since I didn't want to eat outside
"Here"
She gave me the food, and it looked similar
"Is this horse meat?"
"Exactly"
"Are there a lot of horses?"
"Not these days"
"How did you get one then?"
"I stole it"
"Huh?! From who?"
"You"
"What?"
"I stole it from your house"
"A-Are you serious?"
"Yes"
"U-Uhh… Okay.."
"Is there a problem?"
"..Yeah.. Stealing is bad"
"But what if I was going to die?"
"Huh?"
"I am saying if I was going to die from starvation. Am I allowed to steal?"
"I…I don't know"
"It's okay to steal in this situation"
"Really?"
"Yes. You think it's better for me to die? You meanie!"
"S-Sorry"
We ate our food. It was the most fun I had eating food since a long time
After we finished, Asuka said that we need to take another bath
"Why?"
"Because we sweated"
"But that will waste water"
"Not if we had more"
"How?"
"Steal"
"F-From..Us?"
"Exactly"
"I-Is it okay in this situation?"
"Yep"
"O-Okay"
We got up, and Asuka had two more buckets with her. She handed one to me, and I needed to use both of my hands
"A-Asuka"
"Yes?"
"Will I wear your clothes again?"
"Yes"
"O-Okay"
It's so heavy. How can she hold it with ease?
We got behind the wooden house, and Asuka waited for me to finish
I finished taking a bath, and wore her clothes
"T-Thanks Asuka"
"Sigh. No problem"
"Why are you feeling like this?"
"Because you were naked and I was looking at you"
"But isn't it okay in this situation?"
"Huh? I think it is"
"Then why are you feeling like this?"
"I don't know. Just go back inside and I will come"
"Okay~"
I went inside, and Asuka was taking a bath
It's supposed to be wrong to look at a minor's body, right? Then is it okay for a minor to look at an adult's body?
I have to ask Asuka about this
A while later she came in
"Are we going to watch a movie"
"Do you wanna watch?"
"Yes!"
"Okay. Let's watch my favorite one"
"What is it?"
"Texas Chainsaw massacre"
"What's that?"
"The best movie out there"
"Okay"
She sat next to me, and turned on the movie
I noticed a weird looking thing that was made of metal
But rules are rules. I can't talk while a movie is playing
The credits rolled. The music started, and the screen was showing us every person who worked on this movie
And the door swings open
It breaks apart
A man filling the whole door frame is looking at us. His looks made a chill run down my spine. He was going to… kill
A knife in his right hand
And without a blindfold this time
Niv glared at Asuka
He turned to me, and I felt my heart fall
"Sakura!"
My hands got colder. My eyes were locked onto his body
"Y-Y-Yes?"
"Come here"
I-I don't know what to do
I turn to Asuka, and a huge grin was drawn on her face
With the background music playing. Niv with a knife and a killing intent. Asuka gets up and grabs the metal thing
Niv notices that and gets closer as fast as he can
Asuka pulls a string looking thing on that device, and it screams a loud noise
Vrooom
The front of it started to spin like crazy, but Asuka was crazier. She launched at Niv with all of her power, and the sharp end of the knife… Cut through her skin on her left shoulder
"A-Asuka! Niv please stop!"
But unlike what I thought. Niv pulls the sword out, and Asuka still attacks
How. How is she okay?
Blood was splattered. Her shirt was torn. Yet, the wound is gone. She is no longer hurt. Her skin was smooth like always
She pulls the device, and strikes
She shoves the device in Niv's stomach
But what I thought was going to happen.. didn't happen. I thought Niv would heal too
"Get Chainsawed! AHAHA!"
Niv let out a scream from the top of his lungs. I never thought that it was possible to let out such a loud scream
Niv didn't heal like Asuka did.
And Asuka cut through the rest of his body
His body was cut in half
Both his lower and upper half fell on the ground
His lower half was inside the house
While the other was outside. Covered in sand. Under the sunlight. Lifeless
Asuka stood on top of them, and…Laughed
"GYAHAHA! A SICK REFERENCE!"
My knees turned to mush
The music is still playing
Is this a movie?
It has to be.. No way Niv is dead
His body is pouring blood. His insides were out
I felt that my stomach was going to burst out
The food inside me made the floor messy
Asuka is laughing as blood spurt from his body
All I could feel was a gut wrenching feeling
I turned to the TV. It was completely black, and words are rolling
I noticed my face.. It was looking weird
My eyes had a darker shade
My eyes were red
Asuka is done laughing
She looked down at his body, and a grin is still on her face
She is crazy
Way too crazy
"Did you see that, Sakura?!"
".."
My eyes were wide. Locked on his dead body
I was barely able to hear her
She started walking closer to me
And I went back for some reason
That made Asuka pause. Look at me, and her shoulders fell. She was disappointed
"Hey Sakura"
"..."
I didn't respond. I balled myself, and let only a part of my head out to see her
"You know what my real name is?"
"…"
"It's Togata"
"..."
"Don't you think it's cool that my parents named me after a movie loving dude from Ice Kick?"
"..."
"Oh. It's a manga written by Tatsumi Fujino— The same author as Hand-saw girl"
"…"
She stepped closer and reached to me
"Come on. We've got people to kill"
"..No"
"Huh?"
"No!"
"What are you talking about?"
"I don't want to kill people. You are crazy!"
"Augh. We won't talk about it again"
"No. No. No. You killed him. Wasn't your plan supposed to be right?!"
"It is"
"Then why the fuck am I feeling like this?!"
"Ohh~ You're learning from Fight Club"
"Answer me!"
"Uhh… I don't know. Probably because you knew him or something"
"I-If you were doing the right thing. Then why am I feeling this way?"
"Because the truth is always hard, Sakura"
"Shut up!"
"Come on. Don't be a baby"
"I-I don't care if I am one! I don't care! Why.. Why did you kill him?"
"Because he's a pedo"
"H-He's my brother"
"But you already said you weren't sure of that"
!
"Am..Am I like Tyler? What is it called.. Schizophrenia? DID?"
"Oh..You think I am not real?"
"Yeah.. Yeah.. It has to be it.. I am imagining things"
"Nope. You are not"
"T-That's what you want me to think!"
"And why do you think it's otherwise?"
"I-I was talking to the mirror, and she responded"
"Oh god. That seems awful"
"Y-You are not real!"
"Luckily I am. Otherwise Niv wouldn't have reacted to me"
"NO! You… are not real"
I cover my ears and tuck my head
Asuka. Just stood there. Waiting for me to finish crying
"..Asuka"
"It's Togata"
"A-Are you sure it's right? Sniff"
"Of course"
"..."
"Come on. I'll do the thinking. You just listen to me"
"..Will it help?"
"You only feel bad because you are thinking of Niv. Leave the thinking to me, and everything will work out"
"...O..Okay"
"Get up, Sakura. We've got a planet to destroy"